Attitude Adjustment
by Kara1626
Summary: Briggs is done trying to figure out why Charlie is so mad at him and, injury be damned, takes maters into his own hands. WARNING #1: Takes place between "Bag Man" and "Smoke Alarm". Potential SPOILERS for both. WARNING #2: Spanking of an adult.


**WARNING #1: Takes place between "Bag Man" and "Smoke Alarm". Potential SPOILERS for both. WARNING #2: Spanking of an adult.**

Charlie couldn't help herself. She was on a roll with no way of stopping. She knew Briggs was beyond pissed at her, but since the feeling was mutual, she didn't really care. When she thought about it, she couldn't come up with a valid reason she was mad at him, but her suspicions about his actions recently seemed to be fueling that particular emotion. Maybe she chose that one because the alternatives – hurt and betrayal – were too heavy for her to deal with.

When she had told the rest of the house about the heroin she had taken, she saw both of those in Briggs' eyes. But at the moment, she was so angry with him that she didn't care if she hurt him. And that anger had continued to escalate.

Charlie and Johnny moved fluidly through the kitchen making breakfast, and staying out of each other's way as if choreographed. They talked quietly so as not to wake anyone else, or to be overheard. The sounds of running water upstairs signaled the coming end to their private Briggs conference, something that had become a bit of a regular occurrence as they worked together to try to come up with some sort of definitive conclusion about what was going on with him. Moments later, the topic of their conversation joined them, and their meeting was adjourned.

"Morning, kids!" Briggs announced cheerfully. "What are you doing?"

"Making breakfast, want some?" Johnny offered.

"Changing the oil in my car," Charlie said sarcastically at the same time.

Briggs shot her a look, then turned to look at what Johnny was cooking. Since he didn't recognize anything that actually belonged in a frying pan at 8:30 in the morning, he declined.

"Where's Mike?"

Johnny glanced at the clock and started counting slowly, "3…2…1." Just as he finished he countdown, the front door opened and Mike bounced down the steps, having just returned from his morning run. "Yo, Mikey!"

"Hey. Um, what is that?" he asked, looking disdainfully at the pan on the stove.

"You know what?" Johnny asked, mocking offense, "if you guys don't like it, you can make your own breakfast."

"Gladly," Mike answered with a wink before heading to the refrigerator in search of a yogurt.

"Mike," Briggs called to him, "when you're finished eating, go get dressed. We have somewhere we need to be." Mike nodded, took his yogurt and disappeared upstairs.

"Where are you going?" Charlie asked, hiding neither her suspicion nor her disdain very well.

"We have an errand to run," Briggs answered, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, ok," she said, rolling her eyes.

Briggs slammed his hand on the counter and turned to face her. "What is your problem?" he asked angrily.

Charlie glared at him, "Nothing."

"You've been pissed at me for days. Is this because of the heroin? Because I warned you about that. In fact, I told you not to do it in the first place," he said, the volume of his voice rising dangerously.

Charlie looked away angrily and muttered something under her breath. Within seconds, Briggs was next to her, giving her a dangerous look. "That's enough, Chuck. If you have a problem with me, you come talk to me about it."

Charlie returned the look. "Don't hold your breath," she said bitterly.

Before she knew what was happening, Briggs had reached into the drawer next to him and pulled out a heavy wooden spoon. "Turn around," he ordered, then grabbed her arm and forced her to comply, knowing she wouldn't on her own.

The spoon landed a dozen times before he let her up, but he kept a firm grip on her arm. "Look, Charlie, I get that you're pissed at me for what happened. But like I said, I warned you not to do it in the first place, and then I tried to help you. I'm sorry for what that did to you. I really am. But lose the attitude. It was as much your fault as mine." His voice and expression had softened, and he searched her face, hoping for some clue as to what was going on with her.

Charlie's expression softened as well – so much so that she looked away, tears threatening to spill over. "I'm sorry, Paul" she said quietly, and Briggs finally released her arm.

The hand that had been holding her arm moved gently to her cheek as he turned her face toward him. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." Charlie pulled away sadly, and after a moment, Briggs turned and walked away.

As soon as she heard him go upstairs, Charlie reached back to rub the sting out of her backside. "Ow," she said quietly.

Johnny, who had been too uncomfortable, and possibly too stunned, to say anything until now, finally found his voice. "Damn girl, you gotta chill," he said. Charlie leaned against the counter and looked at him, tears still threatening. "You don't have any proof yet," he said quietly, "so until you do, seriously, relax. That was a warning shot," he added, looking toward the stairs where Briggs had disappeared.

Charlie finally nodded. "Yeah, you're right," she agreed, resignedly.

Before they could continue their conversation, a freshly-showered Mike bounced back down the steps, glancing over his shoulder toward the stairs.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

"Briggs paddled Charlie," Johnny offered.

"Oh, thanks a lot, JT," Charlie said.

"Wait, he what?" Mike asked, looking between them as if watching a tennis match.

"Briggs paddled Charlie," Johnny repeated.

"Why?" Mike asked.

"She got mouthy," Johnny answered matter-of-factly.

Mike's eye wandered toward the counter where Briggs had discarded the wooden spoon. He checked his housemates' faces to make sure they were serious. "So let me get this straight. When we screw up," he said, gesturing toward Johnny, "we get a belt across our asses in the Com room. When you screw up," he said, looking at Charlie, "you get a few whacks with a wooden spoon? How is that fair?"

"Bro," Johnny said, shaking his head solemnly "it's no joke. That thing _hurts_!" Mike looked doubtful.

"I could try it on you," Charlie offered.

Mike looked between the spoon and Charlie a couple of times then reconsidered. "No, I'm good."

"Suit yourself," Charlie shrugged, still trying to subtly rub out the sting.

Mike turned back to Johnny. "Soooo, you've gotten hit with that thing too?"

Johnny grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, that reminds me of something I forgot to tell you on your first day here: If you're going to piss off Briggs, do it as far away from the kitchen as possible."

"Thanks for the tip," Mike answered sarcastically.

"Mike," Briggs suddenly called from the front door, "let's go." Mike gave Johnny and Charlie one last look then hurried out of the kitchen to whatever adventure Briggs had planned for him today.

"You ok?" Johnny asked Charlie as soon as he heard the front door close.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Charlie sighed.

"Not to stick my neck out or anything, but you know you deserved that, right?"

Before Charlie could answer, Paige came in the back door and joined them. "Hey!" she said cheerfully then stopped in her tracks. "What is _that_ doing out?" she asked, gesturing toward the wooden spoon on the counter, like she was gesturing toward a snake coiled to strike.

"Briggs paddled Charlie," Johnny said, as if it was his only line in the school play.

Paige pursed her lips and looked at Charlie. "Well, I can't say I didn't see that coming."

"Thanks a lot," Charlie answered, clearly annoyed.

Paige quickly pulled her into a hug. "I didn't mean it that way, it's just," she paused and released her friend, "you've had a bit of an attitude with him lately. I figured he was going to snap soon." She gently rubbed Charlie's arm. "What's going on with you anyway?"

Charlie opened her mouth as if to answer, but simply said, "Nothing," and walked away.

Paige looked to Johnny for some explanation, but he shrugged. "Want some breakfast?"

Paige glanced at the proffered frying pan. "No, I think I'm just going to…yeah." She grabbed a banana and left the kitchen as quickly as possible before Johnny made her try, well, whatever that was.


End file.
